Oo! Pretty sparklies!

I really like this one! The contrasts between the lights and darks are nice.

That, and it's just pretty. :-)

speaking of camera bags--i was going to ask you what sort of bag you use and if you'd found something that REALLY works to keep your stuff together so you're not digging and digging for things and is easy to carry...

Emerald: thanks :-)

trudie: the bag I was referring to was one that I've had for quite some time, a smallish CSS bag that I can just about cram the 20D into (with my 17-40) fitted. My 'proper' camera bag is a Pro Mag 2 AW which is ok for my camera, a few lenses, flash, and various other bits and pieces. It's a decent bag, but I half wish I'd gone for a small backpack instead as it ends up feeling rather heavy after a while.

You'll be attracting the American Ghost Society with pictures like this - they will insist that these 'orbs' are either paranormal manifestations from the spirit world or alien visitors from another dimension (I know, as I had a running battle with 'orbists' a few years ago).
Emerald's right, it's a pretty picture - your very own Blackpool illuminations on a rainy night.

fraxinus: what orbs? ;-)

Me encantan tus fotografias, son muy especiales para mi por lo que transmiten.
Eres mi maestro, quisiera ser como tu. Todo es tan especial en tu web!!

Gracias por tu trabajo.

Stunning graphical image which it seems to be to me more than a photo, without the explanation of how it was taken theres something reall special about it, the colours and blurs and focus. One of my favourites.

A very clever photograph. How much post processing did you do? I ask because I tried to take a similar photograph (minus the raindrops) and seemed to have to spend hours and hours tidying it up with the rubber stamp to get rid of light that spoiled the composition (or so I thought at the time.)

This is autumn in Britain, chaps.

peter: I did very little to this shot other than colour correct it and (slightly) increase the saturation and contrast. If I'd had more time I might have played around with it a bit more before putting it up, but I only spend about 10 minutes on this one.

thanks dave! i'm stockpiling opinions for when it's time to actually make the purchase--i'm leaning towards the backpack style, it's nice to hear affirming words. and i figure at least half of the time i've got my 3yr old son with me--i need all the extra hands i can get! plus, if i end up having to carry him at all, the backpack will work much better. thanks for the link--i've bookmared the lowe site, i saw a few that i think will work for me...

I dig lowepro's gear, the bag choice all depends on your avg lens count. I have a Trekker AW II and it’s a beast, so big, but I use it when I go hiking or need ALL my gear with me. At work all the video gear is in KATA bags...wowsers! These things are NICE!!! http://www.kata-bags.com/videoLobby.asp def check them out as well.

I am sort of upset I decided to start a photoblog during the busiest week of my darn life. I haven’t really had much time to touch my camera, and I feel like my 20d is less of an investment when it is laying there collecting dust while I study. I promised myself the whole reasoning behind this "photoblog" is to motivate me to go out and shoot as much as possible. I get mad when I don’t get to.

As far as the picture, I kind of like it. Colors and the whole "figure it out" thing is always fun, but it speaks out that you didn't have time to go out and shoot what you wanted to or something.

This shot is so very Chromasian. Love the colors. I'm mostly amazed you shot this without composing it first.

I won't overanalyze. This picture makes me feel happy. I want to buy whatever it is selling, I want to hug the photographer, the rain, the cars, and all the colors in the world. And then I want to have a cookie with colored sugar on it just like the colored sugar-looking droplets in the photo. This image is totally the Christmas of my photoblog surfing for tonight. :-)

dave -- is it possible for you to take a bad picture? :) even when you balance your camera on your dashboard, you still come out with results like this. amazing.

pretty =)

David, just when I think I've scored a homerun with my Mantis, you out-do me again. One of these days, you'll have to make a mistake... and I'll be there, in the shadows, waiting... muahahahah!!

Haha... J/K, love the colors in this. You do a great job with saturation in most of your shots. This one is a classic example. Great job!
-zach

I have to echo what has already been said "pretty!" : ) Gems of lights dancing jewels, pretty thoughts dance in sparkled darkness ... I love this!

I can't believe that every shot you take is a mix of art and skill. This shot is wonderful and the rain on the window makes a wonderful effect with the light of the car...
When you take this shot have you tried to shot with the car window down?? Surely with the window up is better...
Matteo, Djlight

See my photoblog at djlight.net

Alec: I did compose, only not very well (I couldn't really see what I was doing), hence my need to rotate this one a bit.

tiffany: a marvellous reaction, thanks :-)

P: yes, I take hundreds of crap pictures, I just don't put them up here ;-)

Zach: ok, that sounds fair enough :-)

djlight: no, I didn't try, a) because it was raining, and b) because I wouldn't have been able to support my camera.

I don't know what to say, I don't know how you manage to post such a good photograph everyday. I sometimes struggle to post a photograph a day, let alone a good one.

The rain drops just look like Christmas lights but somehow more magical.

Very good stuff. I tried something similar the other day, but it really didn't turn out well at all. I like the colors a lot

I agree that the lack of time to shoot sometimes helps boost your creativiy, especially if you have to find new photos in the same place over and over again. I like this one.

That building with the empty parking lot kind of looks like the farmers market in my town.. Also, I agree with Rainking about the creativity that is forced on a person if they have no time to shoot.. "*snap* .. wtf is that? oh.. neat" ..
This photo is pretty cool. I love the clarity behind the rain.

Daily theme is very interesting to me + your experience.. NICE!!!

I just got a Canon backpack style bag and I am very happy with it so far. I can fit my 300D, EOS 300, and my F1 with five lenses and some accessories. Fits really well on my back and feels good on my shoulders. The price was right too $50 US at BHphotovideo.com.

hardcore. yeah, i like it hehehe

I love this photo. I agree with everyone who said it has a very happy, Christmas feeling to it (By the way, Tiffany, have you ever thought about being a writer? Your description was as awesome as his photo!) I've shot rain before and it never looks like this. Simply amazing, as always.

__GREAT SHOT!

30 sec and noiseless. Wow! I want a 20d!
:)

Andy: one of the hardest things I've done this year is post an image every day (well, I've missed a couple here and there) and if you trawl far enough back through the archives you'll find some that aren't too great. I guess the only advice I have, if you want to pursue the image a day thing, is to shoot as much as you can as often as you can, and don't be afraid to use Photoshop to amend them. I know there are a lot of purists out there - and I have no desire to offend any of them - but, for me, the important thing is to strike a happy balance between my intentions (when I took a shot) and the outcome (after using Photoshop). The longer I do this the easier it is to bring those two things closer.

Carlos: yes, the low noise of the 20D is quite astounding, particularly at low ISO's.

i really love the sparkles on here too! there's something almost christmassy about the whole shot that i love. it's almost a relative of
this shot by mused.

Very festive. Especially for rain.

lovely! :-)